Review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) by Iulius ? — 12 Dec 2017

First of all, I don't think the realist elements have done good to this movie. I mean, if the protagonist is meant to be fantastic why is it necessary for us to know when he was born, where is he going, what (real) wars he fought? Superman is like this movie's protagonist, he defies natural laws, like gravity for example.

Benjamin Button is doing the same thing with biological laws when he rejuvenates, but despite the realistic context where he is placed, no-one seems to be so affected by his unusual nature (and that makes realistic characters behave artificially).

Just pay some attention to the title: The curious case..., why case? "Cases" exist only in reality. If the movie would have dwelled in the fantastic, fictional, or whatever you call it domain of the narrative it certainly had been better.

Secondly, and more important, my opinion is that this movie doesn't eventually say much. During the almost three hours length I questioned myself about Benjamin's nature and what philosophical facts should it reveal.

But as I tried and tried to build-up my logic I couldn't reach any destination. In fact, Benjamin looked like a simple, ordinary men that lives his life from start to end. He's different from us only because his appearance evolves from old men to infant child.

But he is born a child and mentally he's just like us (as he admits). All my respect to everyone in the production crew because they made a very well-done job, from special effects to acting performances.

The story is the major problem here.